Two of the world's biggest stock exchange operators have now put $300 million into Kraken's parent while its own IPO remains on hold.
- Nasdaq, the U.S. exchange operator behind the Nasdaq Stock Market, said in a Thursday press release on Sept. 10 that its venture arm agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the financial infrastructure company that owns crypto exchange Kraken.
- Bloomberg reported that the investment values Payward at $21 billion.
The deal follows Deutsche Börse, the German company behind the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Xetra, buying a 1.5% fully diluted stake in Payward for $200 million in April.
Unlike Nasdaq's investment, Deutsche Börse acquired existing shares through a secondary transaction.
That means two traditional exchange groups have now committed a combined $300 million to Payward before ordinary investors have been given a chance to buy its shares publicly.
Kraken keeps getting closer to traditional exchanges
Deutsche Börse announced a broader partnership with Payward in December covering regulated crypto products, derivatives, tokenized markets and institutional liquidity.
Nasdaq followed in March with a partnership to connect its planned issuer-backed tokenized equities with Payward's xStocks infrastructure.
Nasdaq now says the companies expect to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens, or NETs, in Q2 2027 and have also signed a market-surveillance agreement.
Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the companies want to move Nasdaq's equity tokens onto infrastructure "that do not close, with shareholder rights intact."
- London Stock Exchange has also moved closer to Payward without buying a disclosed stake. Earlier this month, LSE partnered with the company on plans to tokenize 100 large London-listed stocks and potentially bring xStocks onto its planned LSE 24 venue in 2027, The Coinformer reported.
Kraken itself is staying private longer
Payward confidentially filed paperwork for a U.S. IPO in November 2025, but its expected debut has continued to move further away.
Reports last week indicated that the company is now unlikely to pursue an IPO before Q2 2027 at the earliest after previously putting the process on hold amid difficult market conditions.
The delay comes even as Payward expands beyond crypto trading. It reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter, up 17% from a year earlier, while platform transaction volume fell 18% to $310 billion.